Where is Jesus Sending You to Announce the Kingdom?
Time
After Pentecost Lectionary 14 July 3, 2022
St. Paul
Lutheran Church Hampton, Virginia
We’re reading through the gospel of Luke
on Sunday mornings this year.
When we read just a piece of the story
each Sunday, it’s hard to appreciate the gospel as a literary work that the
editor-author created. He collected and
fashioned the many stories being told about what Jesus said and did, into a
single dramatic story, designed to persuade readers that Jesus is the Christ! (May I suggest a faith practice for you? Read the entire gospel of Luke, noticing how
it moves and builds towards its conclusion!
I guarantee you will appreciate the Sunday morning readings to a greater
degree!)
Last week we reached a significant
turning point in the story, as the author of the gospel of Luke tells it. It began the section in Luke that we’re reading
now. Here’s the turning point, in these
words: When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set
his face to go to Jerusalem.[1] What happens to Jesus in Jerusalem? In Jerusalem, Jesus will be arrested and humiliated,
and put to death on a cross. So, from
now on, there will be an ominous tone over all that will come in the gospel of
Luke. And, now, there is an urgency that wasn’t there before.
* * *
We see that, in the piece of the story that we read
this morning. Do you remember? Jesus sends out his followers, as missionaries,
to announce the kingdom, the good news that Jesus the Christ has brought into
our world! Jesus tells his missionaries
to expect opposition: “See, I am sending you out
like lambs into the midst of wolves.” Jesus tells his emissaries that, if they
encounter people who are closed off to the good news, they shouldn’t waste any
time, in the urgency of the moment: “But whenever you enter a
town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the
dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against
you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God
has come near.’” And this: “Whoever
listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever
rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
This is a challenging passage – especially as we translate
it into a missionary call from Jesus for us today. Is our cultural moment as urgent as this? Is our announcement of the kingdom to be so
abrupt? Are we expected to encounter
such hostility?
* * *
I don’t have to tell you how urgently we all need
good news! There has been so much bad
news: death and destruction, during the past two years of COVID-19, and because
of the disastrous effects of climate change that we are now experiencing. On this July 4th weekend, we are
painfully aware of those telling lies that reduce confidence in our system of
voting, in the dramatic rise in the numbers of people who think Supreme Court
justices are simply pursuing their political agendas, of how few of our elected
leaders are willing to work with those in the opposing party. Our nation’s experiment in democracy is very
fragile at this time.
And we who are ELCA Lutheran Christians do certainly
encounter hostility from those who equate “Christian” with the radical right
wing political agenda embraced by those who identify themselves as “evangelical
Christians.”
Still, Jesus sends us into the world, to announce
the coming of the kingdom!
* * *
Do
you remember how Jesus does that sending in this morning’s story? After this the Lord appointed
seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place
where he himself intended to go.
Jesus has “set his face to go to Jerusalem” where he will be crucified. He has a destination. But I want to call your attention to
something that offers some grace to you and me, called as we are to announce
the kingdom. There is grace in this, if
we follow the model of Jesus!
Do
you notice that, in the stories in the gospels, Jesus doesn’t feel the pressure
to accomplish a “to do” list, as you and I usually do? Jesus doesn’t have an electronic device or a
calendar filled with a schedule of meetings to attend. Jesus doesn’t have an agenda or a schedule. Do you notice, instead, in the gospel stories,
that Jesus simply encounters folks on the road, or in houses, or in village
squares? And what does he do? He simply engages them in conversation,
doesn’t he? Sometimes Jesus initiates
the conversation. Sometimes it is others
who come up to him with a question. But here's
what’s important: it all takes place in the midst of folks’ daily
activities.
There
is grace for us missionaries in this: Jesus doesn’t harangue people, or assault
them with a set speech. He embodies the
good news of the kingdom, in love, in what he says and what he does. Jesus is announcing that the kingdom of God is
coming to them, now, in this encounter.
And I think that offers a model for
you and me! Think of Jesus calling us to
do this: to bring the good news of the kingdom into our everyday activities, among
those we work with (whether that is work for pay or as a volunteer), among
those we play with, among our friends and family; simply in the way we act
towards others – with love – and in the way we speak to and about others – with
love. What a joyful way to live the
gospel, the good news!
*
*
*
After
this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place where he himself intended to go. Jesus sends these missionaries out to
announce the kingdom. Do you remember what
the kingdom consists of? There are three
things. Listen. “Whatever house you enter,
first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if
anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but
if not, it will return to you.
Then: Remain in the same house,
eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be
paid. Do not move about from house to
house. Whenever you enter a town and its
people welcome you, eat what is set before you; Then: cure the sick
who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'”
The
kingdom of God is, first, peace. “Peace
to this house!”
Second, the kingdom of God is community with others. In fact, it means table fellowship. There is a depth of community when people eat
together. And, third, where there is the
kingdom of God, healing is happening.
Peace,
depth of community, healing and wholeness. This is shalom. This is salvation, participating with God in
what God desires for the world.
This
is not necessarily easy. For instance, I
am convinced that “peace” does not mean pretending conflict does not exist. In fact, peace is often impossible without,
first, honest truth-telling and courageous listening, which can lead to
repentance, which can lead to reconciliation, which results in peace. An example: I am obviously a white male of a
certain age. In recent years, I have
learned a great deal from those who are not white or male. It has often been difficult to listen without
defensiveness, and to learn that there really hasn’t been peace, where I
had assumed there was. This disruption
has been necessary, I think! In fact, I
think it has been the movement of the Holy Spirit to cause the disruption that
is beginning to bring in the good news of the kingdom in a renewed way – God’s
kingdom of peace, of healing, and of deepened community across racial and class
divisions!
Peace,
depth of community, healing and wholeness: it’s all interconnected, isn’t it? When you are engaging in the work of peace-making,
and joining in community with others, and bringing a healing presence, you are
a missionary! You are a follower of
Jesus, saying: “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” Think of how urgently folks need to hear this
announcement of good news in our time and place!
Where
is Jesus sending you to announce the good news of the kingdom? Think of the faces of those you work with and
live with and play with. In our words
and in our actions, we are doing what Jesus sends us to do – to be missionaries
in our daily lives; to announce the kingdom of peace and community and healing! In this is salvation! In this is joy!
In the name of God who is Father and
Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pastor
Andy Ballentine
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